Resilient wheel



c. A. ONElLL.

RESILIENLWHEEL.

APPLICATION HLED 05c, 16. m8.

Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

umdnni' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES ONEILL, OF REVERE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DEMOUN'IABLE SPRING TIRE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

RES IIJIENT WHEEL,

I To all aohom it may concern: 4

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. ONEILL,

resilient wheels, and more particularly to a wheel having shock absorbers which do i not contact with the roadway. One of the objects of. the invention is to provide-in a 'wheel of thiskind rubber shoclr absorb ng elements"adapted to most etfectively with stand the peculiar service conditions which will be hereinafter pointed out.

The shock absorbers form part of expand ing clutch devices whiclrpreferably travel or creep on an annular track, so as to 'allow the'inner portion of the wheel to turn faster than the outer portion. To efiicientl perform their several functions, the shoe! absorbers must be designed to properly- -cushion bothfthe light and 'severe shocks, and they must also retainthe clutches in engagement with the annular track. ob-

ject is ,to produce such expandin shock ab- 1' having sorbers madeiof bodies of rub their elements arranged tofurnishthe de- -pan'i( )n clutch elements. These rubber elements can be'deslgned'to obtain a combmation of results not obtainable from metalsired variable resistance to the shocks,.and also adapted to pro 'ierlyi'actuate their comspringsand,furthermore, they are strong, durable, no seless and they will not crystallize l ke metal-springs.

vAnother ob ect is to avoid destructive stresses which -.have heretofore very 'materially retarded the development of resilient wheels of the general typeherein shown.

Owing: to thegreat demand for shock absol-trip devices superior to pneumatic tires,

various types of shock absorbing elements have been placed between ,mner'and outer wheel rims to absorb the shocks without comm; into actual contact with the ground.

However, the-resilient members interposed between rotating. wheel rims are sub ected Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 11,, 1919.

' Applicatien filed December 16, 1918. Serial No. 267,029.

to peculiar stresses due not only to the load and obstructions 1n the roadway, but also to the transn'nssron of a rotar movement from one of the rims to the other. The ,pecuhar coact1on of these various stresses has resulted in destructive strains which, actual tests have shown, soon-crystallize metal springs, andinfact thedeterioration of the resilient menibers'has been so rapid that many persons'skilled in this art have been convinced that shock absorbers mounted within'the wheel cannot be designed to successfully withstand the service conditions. This, however, I believe is due partly tothe fact 'that the causes of all of the strains are not generally understood, and

partly to the useof metal Springs and improperly designed rubber shock absorbers. Smcethe present invention is based upon a combination of elements whereby certain severe' strams are eliminated, or reduced to a minimum, I will hereinafter endeavor to pomt out-the causes of these strains in an ordinary resilient wheel and to describe the peculiar manner in which they are re lieve'd by the new device.

Heretofore the practice has been to mount 0 the resilient shock absorbing members between an inner Wheel rim and an outer wheel 'rim, and to positively, prevent one rim from rotatingindependently of the other, This is usuallyaccomplished by fastening the shock absorbing members to both rims, but in some instances rigid stop members are used to prevent independent rotation ofthe rims.

According to the present invention, one rim is permitte to turn'relative to the other, and the resilient clutchdevices including the rubber shock absorbers are permitted to travel continually in the-annular space between the rims. To appreciate the advantage of this, it will be necessary to clearly understand why one of the rims tends to turn faster than-the other, and to fully appreciate the effect of the constant stresses resulting from this tendency. Before attempting topoint out these features,l will describe the'specific structure illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure I is a side elevation of a vehicle wheel provided with a resilient tire embodying the features of this'invention.

Fig.3II is an enlarged side elevation,

partly in section, showing one of the resilient clutch devices mounted between the wheel rims. Y

Fig. III-is a transverse section taken approximately through the center of the structure shown in Fig. II.

Fig. IV is a diagrammatical view showing diametrically opposite clutch devices, and also showing one of the wheel members in an extreme position ecc'cntric to the other wheel member. the rubber member of the lower clutch device being displaced and confined under a high degree of pressure in the relativelynarrow space at the lower portion of the wheel, while the rubber member of I the upper clutch device is expandedin the wider space at the upper portion of the wheel, 50' as to ma-mtalu the clutch device in engagement with the wheel rims.

The wheel shown in Fig. I comprises a hub 1, spokes 2, a telly 3 and a metal band at. surrounding the telly "to, receive a fdemountable rim. 5 designates fastening devices of a well known type adapted to secure a demountable rim to the wheel; The

wheel is thus equipped to receive a demount- 'able rim, and: it maybe considered as a standard automobile wheel.

The resilient denlountable tire shown in Figs. I, II and III comprisesfan inner rim the fastening devices 5, an outer rim Bsurrounding the inner rim, and a rubber tire'ti surrounding the outer rim. The rubber tire may be provided with transverse openings 7 in its side faces, and this tire is preferably vul -anized on the outer rim.

The outer rim B also includes an annular web 8, which will be hereinafter termed an annular tack, and side. flanges, 9 extending inwardly from said annular track. The

'inner rim A consists-of an annular web 10 and annular side flanges 11 extending outwardly from said web.

An annular row of resilient expz tndmg clutches is arranged circumfercntially of the annular track 8 and interposed between the inner and outer wheel rims to form it yielding frictional connection \vhiclrallows the inner rim to turn, or creep, relative to, the outer rim. Each ofthese resilient e'xpandingclutches comprisws a rubber pressure-exerting member It mounted between the side flanges of the inner and outer rims relatively firm traction shoes 12 carried by the rubber members R, and tractiou'soles 13 secured to said traction shoes and engag- -in"' the 'aunular track 8.

Ihe bodies of rubber l constituting the prcssure-excrting members arcelongated circuinferentially of the annular track and provided at their ends with openings 14 having diverging walls adapted tonmve toward and away froutcach other. to provide for the radial displacement of the rubber mem- ,as shown most clearly in Figs. II and IV.

The ends of the traction members 12 and 13 are turned away from the annular track 8 to enable the clutch devices to creep more freely on said track. The. traction soles 1 may be made of fiber or of a special composition, such as ordinarily used in making the brake linings of automobiles, the object being-t0 firmly grip the metal track 8 when the rubber members R are under high pressure. and also to use a material which will not be rapidly worn away by frictional engagement with the metal track. The traction shoes 1; are preferably made of metal and each-of these shoes has a central tubular extension 16 (Figs. II and III) projecting into a radial opening 17 in one of therubber n'iembcrs. These tubular metal members 'initial;.ornormal. pressure of the rubber members is great enough. the load will be supported by the wheel without. materially displacing or bending the rubber, and in this eventgbodies of rubber will not be subjected to injurious constant flexure when the tohicle is traveling over a smooth roadway.

o enable the bodies ofrubber to be assemblcd under pressure, each of the tubular members 16 may be threaded internally to receive one end of a screw 18, shown by dot'and dash lines in F ig. III, the screw having a head 19 adapted to engage the rim A, and said rim being perforated to receive the. scrcw. In assembling the parts the screws 1,8'are tightened to move the traction shoes 12 toward the chltch' devices, thereby permitting saidclutch devices to' be placed )etween the flanges 9 of the outer rim, and

thtweupon the screws 18 are loosened and removed from-the structure to permit the ex-.

. wardly. the annular space between the rims is \vidcncd at the upper portion of the wheel. as shown by Fig. IV. and since the bodies of rubber It am assembled under of rubber which are seated on the annularpressure. the rubber members in the relativelv wide space will expand to retain the clutch devices in engagement with the annulaitiack.

It-will now be understood that the clutch devices are not attached or actually fastened to the outer rim. They are permitted to travel or creep on the unobstructed annular track 8. as will be hereinafter described. ()wingto thc expansive force of'the bodies web 10 of the inner rim, the rubber itself is forced into firm frictional engagement with said web 1O, and this friction between the metal and rubber may be great enough altoprevent the rubber from creeping on said web 10.. .However, if desiret a few transverse bolts (Figs-I and II) may be "insertedlthroi gh the side flanges 11 at points between the adjacent ends of rubber mem-' bers R- so '53 to positively prevent theriibbe'r' -fromcreeping on the inner rim. The ends of adjacent bodies of rubber R prefer- 1 ably abut against. e "Figs. I and II.

ach other as shown in I j When the two rims A and B are concentric, they revolve together at the same. speed, and theoretically the rims should he normally concentric with each other. However. to enable the shock absorbing elements to perform'their functions, one rim must move- "to an eccentric position, and since this may be considered as a normal or very frequent condition. it will heinteresting to carefully consider the conditions existing wh'enon'e rim is eccentric to the other. I

' In the diagrammatical view (Fig. I") I have shown one of the rims in an eccentric position relative to the other. and although only two of the bodies of rubber R appear in this diagrammatical view, 'it is 'to be. understood that-the complete structure will include an annular row of the-bodies of rub ben as'shown by Fig. I; In Fig. IV, A designates the outer rim provided with an annular track 8', and B designates theinner rim to which the axle 21 is secured. 'VVhen the rims occupy the eccentric positions. the shock absorbing elements (bodies of -ri ibber R) at the lower portion of thewheel areunder a very high degree of pressure. -while the upper shock absorbers in the relatively wide space at the top of the wheel are com-- paratively free, the power. being transniitted from the inner rim, through the shock absorbing members at the. lower part of the wheel. and thence to the lower portion of the outer rim. The'bodies of rubber R at. the tonof the wheel are permitted to expand and retain the friction soles 13 m contact with the annular track, but they are compa rativel y free to slip circuinferentiallyof said-track. so the driving power must be transmitted from the center of the axle .21 (Fig. IV) to the ower p rtion of the outer I'll. where the bodies of rubber are mostlrmtv held between the rims. It is important to observe that the eccentric members H illustrated by Fig. IV closely resemble a small friction drive gear contacting with a larger driven gear. \Vhen gears of this kind coiiperate with each other, the. smaller gear will turn faster, or make more revolutions, than the larger gear, and in the. new

structure the inner rim likewise tends to turn faster than the outer rim, In Fig; 1V the'center of the inner rim is displaced downwardly relative to the outer rim, and the power is transmitted from said center .to the lower portion of the annular track A.

Therefore, the inner .wheel elements, iucludiug-the axle and the bodies of rubber It, may be considered as a relatively small friction drive gear having a diameter equal to twice the distance from the center of the axle to the lower portion of the annular track 8'; while the outer rim may be considered asa; friction driven gear equal in diameter to the annular track 8.

ing, it must be borne in mind that the driving'power is transmitted through the lower In coiiiparing these devices to speed-changing gearportion of the wheeh'and for this reason the ,7

distance from the center-of the axle to the lower portion of the. annular track 8 may be considered as one-half of the distance of the inner driving gear. The point I desire. to make clear is that whenever the inner rim occupiesan eccentric position, it tends constant. strains due to the natural tendency of one rim to turn faster than the other, and if the connections were yieldable they would. be. gradually tensioned until their resistance was great enoughto positively overcome the tendency of the inneiflrini toturn at the comparatively high speed. .It is ditii'cult to conceive the action of all of the peculiar stresses which would occur ina yieldingly connected device of this kind, but it is clear that the yieldi'rig connections would be con-. 1 stantly undertension": iii .l that the degree oftension would "change in accordance with changes in either he load or power, and also in response to variations inlthe resistance [offered to the rotary movement f'the outer Fit 12,. thereby causing vibrations in I the yield-E'- ng connections. The tendency. of one rimto turn faster than the other would also change in response to variatimis in the dis tance between the eccentric centers of the rims.

Any positive driving: connection preventing the inner rim from turning! taster than the outer rim will very materially all'ect the shock absorbing properties of th resilient members between the rims. at the same time causing severe stresses and vibrationstend ing' to destroy the resilient members. Itv the resilient rubber members H were used to connect the rims. the would have to support the load, resist the shocks, transmit power to the outer rim. and while performiug. all of these several functions they would be constantly subjected to the severe stresses due to the teiideiicyint' th small iii-nerrini to turn faster than the outer rim. The simultaneous co-action of these ditferent destructive t'orccs would not only tend to shorten the life of resilient .ineiiibers, but it would also greatly impair their etliciency; for it will be apparent that therubber shock absorbers cannot ati'ord the desired. resiliency while constantly tcnsioued and (115 torted by varying: stresses resulting from the tendency of the large-and small rimsto turn at. 'ditlerentrotary speeds. Otherwise stated. if the. rotary movement is transmitted through driving members which prevent one rim from turningrelative to the other, all of these driving members would be subjected to constant bending); stresses tending to move all of them circuuilerentially of the rims. such cireumferential bending stresses being due partly to the t'ansuiission of power lurough all of the connecting members and partly to the constanttendeiicy of the inner rim to turn faster than the out-er rim; and owing to the. constant changes due to therotaiy movement of the heavily loaded eccentric rims, there would also be constant. destructive vibrations resulting from 'apid changes in the. forces acting upon all of the distorted connecting members.

Actual tests have shown that a positive driving connection between the rims is unnecessar and in the new device. a number of important advantages are gained by eliminatingthis connection and permitting the inner rim to turn or roll in the outer mm. The, weight, of the vehicle. the, expansive force. of the elongated rubber shock absorb (.lS and the frictionbetween the elongated traction members and their smooth-annular track 8, provides a highly desirable friction drive. The traction members, carried by the rubber shock absor'lx-rs at the. lower portion vof he wheel, contact with their smooth track in a manner corresponding to the contact between a locomotive wheel and its smooth track. or to the frictional contact between an automobile tire and the ground. Further, the friction at the elongated traction members is even greater, due to the greater area incontact and the expansive force of the elongated bodies of rubber it. It is. therefore, unnecessary to fasten or attach the inner rim to the outer rim.

At the upper portion of th wheel. the friction clutches formed by the rubber members and tlie't-raction members are comparatively tree, and there being no positive, drivingc-onnection. the free individual re.- silieiit. members are permitted to move, or creep; circuiuferentially of the annular track. 8. In one revolution the circumferential slippage is very slight, but; in traveling se. eral miles the total slippage may amount to one-or more complete revolutions. depending upon the-conditions under which the wheel is driven. However. whenever one of the rims is forced to an eccentric position, either by thepveight of the ,vehicle or by the shocks due to irregularities n the roadway, the

inner rim is freeftd follow its natural tendency to turn or roll taster than-the outer If the rims were held concentric, the driving power would be transmitted through all of the rubber mem'bersR and the bodies of expansive rubberwould be subjected to a peculiar circumferential tensionitig action, but when the eccentric inner rim is free to roll on an annular track, as herein shown,-

the flejxure oft-lie rubber is approximately limited to a radial movement. The equilibrium of the center ofgravity of the load, of the outerrim and of the axle is not materially disturbed 'by,a movement of this kind, the resilient members biiigSO mounted that the centers of gravity of these three elements are maintained in constant equilibrium.

The resilient. members are not subjected to constant vibrations or to other destructive strains resulting from the tendency of the inner rim to turn in the outer rim. and by absolutely eliminating these strains leave the shock absorbers free to erforin their functions most efi'ectively; at t ie same time providing in the wheel itself a series of traction members-which gradually creep on an annular track to enable the rotary motion to be transuut'ted without materially llljlll'ln the resilient rubber members. The

free. in ling: motion on a smooth track can be readily borne by the shock absorbers carried by the inner run. and although thetraction members are permitted to slip in the relatively widespace at the upper part of t ie wheehthe Friction at this point is coinpar-atively slight. The actual slippage is not great enough to rapidly wear away the friction surfaces.

A careful study of the problems involved in a wheel of this kiiidlias shown that there are certain features essential to the successful operation of the wheel, and to accomphsh all of the'ilnportant results herein pointed out the complete structure should consist ot a combination of elements including certain desirable features of the travel-- mg expanding clutches herein disclosed.

First, all of the expanding clutches must be retained in engagement with the annular track. This is accomplished by assembling the resilient members under pressuref To avoid constant destructive tlexure when the wheel is traveling on a smooth roadway, the expansive'torce of the resilient members is preferably great enough to retain the rims in approximately concentric positions.

Second, the service shocks must not rapidly destroy the resilient members, and this is avoided, preferably, by the use of rubber designed and reinforced to withstand the shocks.

Third, the resilient members, when expanded as shown a the topot' Fig. IV, should offer only a low resistance to the slippage ot the traction members, but in absorbing the shocks the resilient members should ofi'er a graduallyincreasing resistance which must be very great when they are forced to the extreme condition suggested at the lower portion of Fig. IV. The desired minimum and maxinunn resistance must be obtained from resilient members which can partake of onlya limited motion in absorbing the shocks, for the extreme eccentric positions of the rims can not be very far from the concentric positions. In other words, a wheel rim cannot be greatly displaced in absorbing the shocks and both the light and severe shocks should be effectively absorbed by resilient members which are not greatly displaced by the shocks. In the prefered form of the invention, the resilient rubber members R are formed with openings 14 and 15 enabling them to afford the desiredresiliency for both light and severe shocks. Although vulcanized rubber cannot be materially compressed, it can be displaced under pressure, and the open bodies of rubber herein shown can be readily displaced and, assembled under pressure to obtain the desired constant contact at the annular tracl It is also important to observe that the rubber members having the openings 14 and 15 will yield freely in cushioning the light shocks, and when subjected to a shock severe enough to approximately close the openings, a very high resistance will be gradually obtained. In response to the severe shocks, the converging'wall's of the openings 14 will gradually approach each other, contacting with each other first only near the inner ends of the V-shaped openings, but as the displacement of the rubber continues the converging walls will gradually close the openings 14, thereby compelling the extended end portion of the rubher member to cooperate with the middle portion in absorbing the severe shocks. The resistance of the open rubber members is thus gradually increased by a gradual closing of the openings, and by varying the shape and dimensions of the diverging rubber elements, the rubber members can be properly designed to obtain the. desired shock absorbing properties for either a light pleasure vehicle or for a heavy connnercial truck.

Another important feature of the improvement is based upon the fact that the resilient members should be free to yield radially of the wheel, and although they creep circu'mtcrentially ot' the annular traclc. undue circumterential tiexure should be avoided. The resiliency is atl'orded mainly by the approximately radial liexnre, aml if subjected to unnecessary circmnt'erential bending stresses the shock absorbing properties of the resilient members would be impaired. The relatively stitf tubular members 16, preferably formed integral with the metal traction shoes 11 extend into radial openings in the rubber member It, and these members'lti do not tend to prevent. radial movements of the rubber. the circumterential thrusts resulting in the creeping ot' the clutches are transmitted through these stilt radial members 16. 'lherefore. the members 16 tend to prevent circmnferential tlcxure of the traveling resilientmembers. In addition xa't'orming this important function, the radial members 16 may be used to secure the traction shoes to the rubber and also to retain said shoes in radial alinement with their companion rubber members.

I claim:

1. In a; resilient, wheel, the combination ofan inner \vhcel member, an outer wheel member surrounding said inner wheel member, one of said wheel members being provided with an annular track, and an an nnlar row of resilient expanding clutches arranged circuniterentially of said annular trackand interposed between said wheel mel'nbers so as to form a yielding frictional connection which allows one of said wheel members to turn faster than the other, said resilient expanding clutches compnsmg traction members engaging said annular track and expanding rubber pressure-eX-' erting members whereby all of sa d traction members are positively retained in engagement with said annular track, the ends oteach of said traction membeis beingturned away from said annular track each of said rubber pressure exerting membersbeing provided with a radial opening; and relatively stifi' thrust members tendingto prevent circumferential fiexure of said expanding rubber members, each of said thrust members being extended from one of said members and rubber members.

traction members and mounted inone of said radial openings so as to more radially and circumlerentially with said traction 2. In a resilient wheel, the Combination of an inner wheel member. an outer wheel member surrounding said inner wheel member ,one of said wheel members being provided with an annular track, and an ann'ular row of resilient expanding clutches arranged cireu'niferentially of said annular track and interposed between said wheel members so as to form a yielding frictional connect-ion which allows one of said whee-l members to turn faster than the other, said resilient expanding clutches being; adapted to creep along Saul-annular track, said resilient. expanding clutches comprising expanding; rubber pressiu'e-exert-ing members, the oi-mil pressure or expansive force of said 01 paneling rubber pressi'u'e-exerting nieinbu-s being great enough to approximately balance thenorinal load to which the wheel 1s-sub]ected and to posltn'ely retain all ofsaid expanding clutches in en gagement with said annular track.

In test-nnony that I clann the foregoing T hereunto afiix my signature.

CHARLES A; ONEILL. 

